Lessons in Blood
by chrystaline
Summary: When Remus was bitten and what transpired after. They must stick together because they have never been so alone. No pairings.


**When the wolf was naïve.**

The little boy lay curled in a tight ball, shivering, as the cold air ruffled his hair and caressed his back with gentle yet eerie fingers. Goose pimples appeared on his slightly tanned skin as his eyes moved uneasily under their lids. His sleep was fitful, haunted by monsters. His dreams had been ruled by monsters for as long as he could remember, feral snarls, claws, coppery blood. No one knew and he told no one for the wolfish creature in his dreams always told him before he left the boy to reality and peace one more that if he did, he would come and the boy would never be seen again.

Outside, a twig snapped. The boy jerked but did not wake. A soft and insistent whine rumbled in his throat. In his dreams, the creature laughed.

_Don't be scared of me_, it said, stretching its muscular arms and cracking his knuckles. _Don't be scared when I come. _It grinned, revealing shiny teeth slick with crimson. It opened its mouth wide and clamped down hard on the boy's arm. He shrieked and screamed in pain, trashing around as the creature pinned him down with its strong front paws. _Shhh_, the creature crooned as it pulled away. Blood was dripping from its maw. The boy stared at the creature with wide eyes, as tears of fright and pain coursed down his face. He scurried backwards as he tried to get away from the creature. His arm was on fire, burning, like a thousand brands and he gave voice to a squeal of pain. Suddenly, it seemed to die down. The pain subsided mysteriously, leaving behind a shining white spot.

_Don't be scared when I come…_

The boy awoke almost silently. The whine was suddenly cut off and he sat bolt upright, barely breathing. His brown eyes darted around the room. His room was still the same. Shadowy, dark, just like he wanted it to be. He breathed a sigh of relief and fell back onto the dark sheets, decorated with slender crescents and peppered with stars.

He had a fascination with the dark unlike other children. He had always thought he was different. His uncle had accidentally given him half-cooked meat once at a family barbeque and he found that he liked it. In fact, the next few family barbeques saw him, a little boy of five, asking for semi-rare meat which worried his parents. After all, were little five year old boys even built to eat raw meat? There was no need to worry however. Their son was healthier than any of the children around. In fact, the ability to fall sick seemed to have left him after his first bite of that half-cooked piece of meat.

He stared at the ceiling, wondering, as outside, the clouds floated past a full moon and like a lifted curtain, moonlight illuminated the his sweaty face. His heart was racing, his eyes were wide. Adrenaline shot through his veins and powered up his child-sized muscles. His skin bubbled. Suddenly, he was utterly terrified. He squeezed his eyes shut as his fear immobilized him and left him. He could not move, he could not breathe…

The world exploded in an exquisite display of light and colour as pain assailed his senses. Shades of red that he had never seen before danced before his eyes and a rushing filled his ears and head. Distantly, there was someone screaming, screaming, but he ignored it. The screaming faded and so did all sense of himself. Suddenly, he was someone else, something else. A shift within him jolted him and he whined again. Instead of the childish sound that escaped from his lips before, it was the injured whine of a canine. The boy opened his eyes, stunned.

The world was different. He could suddenly smell a thousand things, from the woody smell outside to the fear of the humans that stood at the door. Hunger gripped his stomach hard and he doubled over, gripping at his furry stomach. A thought emerged from the mess in his head as the instinct to find food and find it fast clicked on. Half-cooked meat, tender, juicy, dripping… If half-cooked tasted that good, how would uncooked taste? He looked up and a grin transformed his wolfish features into something out of a nightmare.

"Run!" the taller one cried to the shorter one. "Run!"

The two disappeared from the door as the hunger twisted his stomach. He snarled. He was hungry! His legs muscles contracted as he prepared to bound after his meal. Suddenly, a paw descended on his shoulder and he jumped. He smelled authority and kept his head bowed as he whined once more.

_No_, the elder wolf's voice rang in the boy's head. _I created you for revenge but you must never harm those of your own pack, especially your parents. Physically, anyway._ He added as an after-thought as his eyes sparkled with the enjoyment of the hunt.

_Revenge? _The younger wolf cocked his head to the left. He looked up and jumped away in fright as the creature from his dreams gazed at him with hard yellow eyes. The younger wolf whimpered.

_Don't be scared of me when I come, cub_, the elder wolf said.

_Why didja come?_ The younger wolf asked timidly.

The older wolf gazed out the window with unfathomable yellow eyes. _Not today, pup. Some other day when you're old enough. Come, you must be hungry._

With that, the pair bounded out the window and into the moonlight. The elder wolf came to him every full moon when the boy was locked away by his parents for his transformation. He would unlock the door and beckon, a dark shadow, and the young wolf would creep out. His mentor taught him lots of things. He showed him the animals he could hunt and taught him how to hunt. He showed him places he should not go, places that would result in painful, if not agonizing, death. He nursed the young wolf back to health when he caught an illness off the girl down the street when he snuck out one day to play and then chastised him for falling sick so near the full moon.

One day came when his mentor arrived late. The young wolf curled in the corner of the cellar his parents built for him and almost cried in relief when he heard the lock snick and smelt the scent of authority in the air. He liked the smell.

_C'mere, pup,_ the elder wolf said roughly as he closed the door and settled himself in a corner of the room. The young wolf obliged but he walked slowly, cautiously. He could smell panic in the air. _Hurry up!_ The elder wolf snapped. The young wolf increased his pace and sat on his haunches before the bigger wolf.

_We don't have time to go out, _he said in a hushed whisper. The young wolf cocked his head to the left.

_Why're you whispering, sir?_ he asked innocently.

_Quiet!_ the older wolf snapped. The young wolf whimpered and bowed its head, cowed. His mentor had never spoken to him like that before.

The elder wolf took a deep breath and glanced furtively around the dark room. _Listen to me, _he whispered. _There is a wizard, a wizard out to do evil things. He recruits us werewolves. I joined him when I was a pup out of a need to survive. Don't follow my lead, son. Whatever you do, do not join him. _The elder wolf held the younger wolf's eyes to impress upon him his seriousness. _Because you can never leave._

The young wolf shuddered as his mentor's tired eyes searches his. _I have to go now,_ the elder wolf said. _He's looking for me. He needs more of us. Remember what I have taught you, son. Remember it well. We must stick together because we have never been so alone._

With that, the elder wolf flung open the door and darted out, leaving the young wolf to stare, as tears pooled in his amber eyes.

_Teacher, _he whined. _Please don't leave me._

_

* * *

_

**When the wolf learnt.**

The shouting reached his ears as he stretched and yawned. He had cried himself to sleep.

_He deserves it!_ Male. A door slams.

_What? _Female.

Familiar voices… who are they?

_That filthy beast! Just desserts, I'd say. _Angry.

Oh, Mum and Dad. His mind was foggy in his state.

_What happened?_

_The crazy wizard tortured him half to death, that's what. Last night. They said he betrayed his own kind._

_How would you know that, honey?_

_After what that rabid wolf did to our son? Of course I have to know more about the enemy! _Something slams. Glass shatters. The wolf curls up into a ball and whines. What that rabid wolf did… T-t-teacher? He curls up even tighter and shivers. No no no no no, impossible. Half to death?

_Calm down! _Nervous. The wolf begins to wail hysterically.

_Serves him right, it does. _More glass breaking.

_Calm down! _The wolf begins to howl, long, drawn-out cries of pain and anguish.

Suddenly, everything is silent.

_What was that? _Hushed.

The wolf ceased to care.

Years later, Remus Lupin would not connect his childhood mentor to the imposing, blood-lusting and sadistic creature which was Fenrir Greyback.

Because when a mind snaps, everything else takes on peculiar colours and shade of imperfection.


End file.
